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Quilting event takes on new meaning for Spanish Fort resident

Quilts of Comfort.JPG

Joni Ojard, left, works with her daughter-in-law Kristen Ojard last year's quilt making event. She didn't know at the time she would be receiving her own comfort quilt this year as she spent time in the hospital waiting for a liver transplant. The quilts have a new meaning for her now.
(Courtesy Joni Ojard)

"My perspective is everyone has a story, and I just found out what my story was in November and December."

For Spanish Fort resident Joni Ojard, the idea of making quilts for those in the hospital came full circle when she found herself in need of one during her own hospital experience late last year. Now, quilt making has a new meaning for her and those around her.

Ojard began hosting community quilting events 15 years ago as a way to involve the skills of her students in the Family and Consumer Sciences program at Spanish Fort Middle School in a community service project. The group of approximately 50 to 60 volunteers would meet on a Saturday to build as many comfort quilts as they could, and then she would donate them to such groups at USA Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Mercy Medical, Ronald McDonald House, St. Jude’s Hospital and others.

“The intent was to be able to provide some comfort to families going through some difficult times,” Ojard said.

Over the past 15 years, they have donated 1,200 quilts.

But, in the last six months, the quilts have taken on a new meaning for Qjard as she found herself suffering from acute liver failure going into the holidays and she was soon in desperate need of a liver transplant. Her MELD (Model End-Stage Liver Disease) scores quickly moved her to the top of the donor list in the state and then the Southeast. She received a new liver on Dec. 28.

After all the quilts she has helped make for others, her friends found it fitting to make her a quilt to go help her go through her time in the hospital. This quilt had words of encouragement and inspiration, prayers and Bible verses for her, and she said it was a comfort to her and family members who often cuddled with it in the chair next to her.

“It really did come full circle to me. I didn’t realize the impact at the time,” Ojard said. “I have a newfound appreciation for it now. I can just envision the quilts that we’re making now to help brighten up the rooms of children.”

The quilts are made to be a comfort to children and their families and hopefully put a smile on their faces and bring something bright and colorful into their lives during a scary time, according to Ojard.

Ojard said that finding herself in need of an organ transplant was a shocking and unexpected situation, and she ended up spending a lot of time in the hospital over the holidays. She started at Thomas Hospital and then transferred to the University of Alabama Birmingham.

At the time, she and her family had no knowledge of the organ donation process and what all went into it, but now they are working to raise awareness of it with this year’s quilting event.

Ojard’s friends got together and organized the event under the new name: Quilts of Comfort, The Joni Ojard Project, Honoring the Gift of Organ Donation. They’ll be sewing patches with this information on all the quilts to help to raise awareness about organ donation and hoping families will have discussions and make decisions regarding the topic.

“I’m so honored and humbled by their efforts at renaming this project and wanting to bring attention to the gift of organ donation this year,” she said.

Ojard said that she is grateful to her donor and the donor’s family and “for the gift that has been given to me.” She was released from UAB on January 2 and was able to leave Birmingham and return home after two weeks. She is still closely monitoring her numbers and doing her follow-up treatment, but she said her numbers are trending the right way and she’s feeling stronger every day.

“My perspective is everyone has a story, and I just found out what my story was in November and December,” she said. “I think it’s important that we all find a way to pay it forward.”

This year’s Quilts of Comfort event will be held April 5 at Spanish Fort High School from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event is for people of all ages and sewing, or non-sewing, ability. There are plenty of tasks available for all to do. The goal for this event is to complete 80 quilts for distribution. All the materials and fabrics have been donated through a joint effort with Spanish Fort United Methodist Church.

“It’s always been a little bit larger than myself. Stuff just comes in and it’s always been a little bit of a miracle how it all works out,” she said, adding that they have never failed to get what they need for the quilts.

Besides the event, donations of fabric and completed quilts are accepted year-round at the church or high school. Monetary donations and quilt sponsorships are welcome. For more information on the project and how to donate, find Quilts of Comfort on Facebook.